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economist suntribune ontarios budget thursday june 20 2002 lindsay mason province shouldnt alienate core supporters bill belu tories are pretend liberals in wolfs clothing janet ecker ontario cant afford round of tax cuts this year bill crothers no funding for contract negotiations joan moase black market will re- emerge due to cigarette price hike real tories please step forward by lisa queen staff writer the common sense revolution was launched from lindsay masons newmarket livingroom in fact the return of the common sense revolution was launched from lindsay masons newmarket livingroom four years later it was no accident former pre mier mike harris chose ms masons home in york region when he called provincial elections in 1995 and 1999 smallc conservative voters in the region have formed the back bone of tory support representing the middle and upper- middle classes raging for tax cuts although critics warned about the injurious effects on programs and services york voters over whelmingly reasoned if the govern- ment would get its hand out of their wallets they could spend more money and help stimulate the economy mr harris was pleased to com ply he returned time and time again to york region homes and busi nesses before retiring last fall often bringing a jar of money he liked to say represented the cash he had put back into families pockets courtesy of his tax cuts he tipped his hat during those budget leaves no room to negotiate teacher salaries by mitchell brown staff writer teachers school boards parents and private school supporters struck a similar chord tuesday in reaction to the provincial budget were just disappointed said elizabeth crowe chairperson of the york catholic district school board we had hoped there would be additional funding in the budget it wont help us balance our budget in the long run for the 200203 school year ontarios classrooms will receive a record 143 billion an increase of almost 400 million over last year however school board officials quickly point out 347 million of the money was announced more than a month ago bill crothers chairperson of the york region district school board was dismayed by the numbers the only stuff that was new was a little bit of onetime funding which really doesnt help very much he said the one issue that probably concerns us most is there isnt any funding in there that would allow us to go into any contract negotiations with any additional funds to offer employees the increases just bare ly cover existing inflationary increases and enrolment growth advocates for public education say the new funding isnt nearly enough to repair damage done by past budgets scant relief in spite of the number of par ents and boards who have clearly outlined the need for additional funding for their schools this com ing september there is scant relief for students said anne kidder spokesperson for people for education a torontobased group while the elementary teachers association of ontario said the gov ernment has made a start in repay ing the millions of dollars it has taken out of education since 1995 its president phyllis benedict said her group remains dissatisfied the serious investment needed for smaller classes for more spe cialist teachers for support staff and for capital investment is all missing from this budget she said waited too long proponents of private schools are dis appointed the province delayed school- tax credits introduced in last years budget the equity in education tax credit would have given parents of children who attend religious and private schools a maximum of 700 in tax credits the first year the canadian jewish congress which lob bied hard for the credit was disappointed by the delay but buoyed by the govern ments commitment to see it through we have waited a long time to achieve some equity for our children in independ ent religious schools said ed morgan chairperson of cjc ontario region todays announcement calls for patience as opposed to a political reassessment we fully expect that this onetime measure will in no way affect the tax credit in the long term however john vannesselt spokesperson for the ontario association of christian schools was less impressed by the delay its especially lowerincome families that will be hurt by this decision in terms of politics it seems the government has taken away something from the very constituen cies most likely to support them visits to his righthand man ernie eves who as treasurer for most of mr harris tenure brought in tax cuts and balanced budgets amid some controversial political deci sions but mr harris righthand man is being accused of veering to the left after delivering his first budget as premier monday some have even gone as far as declaring the revolution dead accusing mr eves of becoming little more than a liberal in wellheeled wolfs clothing the former taxcutter raised levies on cigarettes the first major tax increase since the tories took office seven years ago this month the price jumped 9 a carton thanks to a combined assault of increased provincial and federal taxes meanwhile promised individual and corporate tax cuts have been deferred ms mason is willing to give mr eves the benefit of the doubt for the moment hoping the budget isnt a signal the premier is abandoning the very people who have kept the tories in office for the past seven years im still cautiously optimistic but im disappointed in this budg et she said yesterday from her newmarket office all the groups they tried to appease are still not happy said the longtime supporter of the fed eral alliance party my feeling is at the end of the day not only have they ticked off their loyal supporters but it hasnt helped on the other side im kind of holding my breath i hope its just a blip and we get back to the common sense revolution a lot of work was done you would hate to see it swept aside still ms mason said the tories risk alienating their core conservative voters in york if they veer too far off course into liberal territory with harris however people looked at him you knew where he stood he did what he said he was going to do she said if mr eves is trying to be all things to all people it just doesnt work at the end of the day he has ticked off everybody tory support has come from areas like ours if you start to alienate that core support it does cause you prob lems but oak ridges mpp frank klees is urging voters such as ms mason to appreciate the realities mr eves and finance minister janet ecker had to contend with before jump ing to any mistaken conclusion the government is weakening its tax- cut mantra he argued the budget represent ed a shortterm financial plan to handle difficulties such as the drop in provincial revenues following the downturn in the global economy after the terrorist attacks last sept 11 we will make up any tax deferral in short order i dont see this in any way as a disruption of the common sense revolution mr klees said i have every confidence that ernie eves will continue this philos ophy of tax cuts and the commit ment to ensuring a strong economy to let taxpayers keep more of their hardearned money despite ms masons concerns mr klees is confident loyal tory supporters dont feel abandoned by the budget i dont believe our core support ers are upset i think our core sup porters understand the shortterm pressures facing the government at the same time he sympa thizes with healthcare experts who complain the additional 17 billion which brings healthcare spend ing up to 255 billion this year rep resenting 47 per cent of the provin cial budget is inadequate were short 2 billion for health care and that lies squarely on the shoulders of the feds mr klees said it will never be enough in this province or other provinces in this country until the federal govern ment steps up to the plate one on one personal fitness training markham 98 main st n 9054715433 wwwwhytefitaessxom whitby 1501 hopkins st 9056665392 hi rum 1 1 1 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